Apparatus for aerating sewage and other foul liquids



.Fume l@ 1,497,425 R. A MEs ET AL APPARATUS' FOR AERATING SEWAGE ANU OTHER FOUL LIQUIDS Filed Sent. 3.- 1922 2 sheets-sheet 1 TTY,

me 1o 1924 A 1,497,425

R. AMES ET AL APPARATUS FOR AERATING SEWAGE AND OTHER FOUL LIQUIDS Filed Se'pt. 23, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Liquids, of which the following is a specis'rA'rEs l ananas Parana err-acs.

MGI-IARD AMES, 0F BRIGHTON, MATTHEW WILLIAM MILLS, 0F EEYWOOD, AND JOSHUA BOLTON, 0F RUBY, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR AERATING SEWAGE AND OTHER FOUL LIQUIDS.

Application led September T o 'all whom. z'zmay concern.'

Be it known that we, RICHARD AMES, Blaarmzw 'WILLIAM MILLS. and JOSHUA BoL- rox, subjects of the King of Great Britain, residing. respectively, at Brighton, in the county of Sussex, England; Heywood, in the county of luancasten'England, and Bury, in the said county of Lancaster, have invented uewand useful Improvements in Apparatus for Aerating Sewage and Other Foul cation.

Our invention relates to improvements in apparatus for purifying `sewage and, other foul li uids by means of aerated or activated slu ge, and the objects of our invention are First, to dispense with the use of compressed air forced into the sewage tank, or air drawn down into the tank, in order to activate the sludge. y A Second.., to aerate the sludge by exposing the same to the atmosphere with a wave and spray action. l

Third, to ensure a constant'circulation of the activated sludge throughout the tank.

Fourth. to avoid the necessity' for 'pumping sludge back into the tank after sludging. or laying off a tank or portion of a tank. i i

We obtain these objects bv means of tanks and mechanism illustrated Vin the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a plan of a portion of a sewage tank constructed according to this invention. y

Fig. 2 is a section of one unit of the tank.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of 'the circulating mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a plan of the same with the drivgear removed.

i imilar numerals denote the same parts throughout the several views.

l is the sewage tank which is divided b means of cross walls 2 into units A. B. etc.. each unit being provided with means for raising sludge from the bottom of the tank and exposing it to the atmosphere with a wave and spray action before the sludge falls back into the tank.

The tank shown by the drawings is rectangular and contains a number of square units, it being found in practice that a rec` tangular tank besides being cheaper to make and equip, occupies less `surface area for the 28, 1922. Serial N0. 589,988.

quantity of sewage dealt with than a circular tank.

The bottom 3 of the unit slopes in all directions to the centre thereof (in order tc compel the sludge to flow to the circulating ipes 14 up which the-sludge is drawn -to e aerated) the angles being illeted to prevent accumulation of sludge.

5, 5, 5, 5, are ballles made of reinforced concrete, expanded metal faced on both sides with cement, or of any other suitable maunit to be utilized as'settling areas in which i the liquidl is not agitated and the sludge sinks and Hows down the inclined bottom lto the circulating pipes-14 to be ire-circulated for aeration.

The batlles 5, as shown, do not extend to the bottom" of the unit but only to the'commencement of the inclined bottom, for the `reason hereinafter appearing.

7 is the inlet channel which extends they whole length of the tank, or thereabouts, and is provided with suitable inlet' valves 8 to admit the crude sewage to the various units.

9, 9, are sludge pipes provided with sludge valves 10, 10, by. means of which the sludge or contents of the unit may be run od through the pi e 11 to the sludge well of lagoon, the slu ge pipes 9, 9, being connected to theA pipe 1 The purified effluent runs over the sills 12 into the etiiuent channel 13.

The mechanism .for raising the sludge and keeping 'it in constant circulation comprises two circulating pipes 14 in each unit, each pipe being provided with a bell-mouth 15 at the bottom thereof.

rl`he pipes 14 may be secured to the bottom of the unit, or they may be merely supported on feet. as shown by Fig. 2, the bottoms of the bell-mouths being only a few inches above the bottom ofthe unit.

The top of each pipe 14 forms a hopper 16 in which rotates a cone 17 open at the bottom and provided with blades 18, the cone being suspended above the hopper as hereinafter described. A

The blades 18 may be either flat or form a portion of a helix or screw, and they may be curved or set at an angle, see Fig. t, instead of radially, so as in all cases to cause the liquid discharged from the cone t0 Strike terial, to enable the corners 6, 6, 6, 6, of each motion which brings the activated sludge or bacteria into more intimate contact, and for a longer period, with the impurities in the 1 liquid than if the suspended matters ellin a strai ht line to the bottom of the unit.

The lades 18 project at their outer ends above the cone 17 and the top of the hopper Each cone. is connected by means of rods 19 to cross-arms 20 secured to a sleeve 21 through which passes a vertical'shaft 22 which rotates in ball bearings in a suitable pedestal 24 which is bolted to the girders 30, the cone rotating in the hopper 16 without touching it.

The shaft '22 is provided with. a bevel wheel 25 which ears with a-bevel pinion 26 secured to the ongitudinal shaft 27.

A suitable clutch 28 is provided -by means of which the cone 17 may be caused toA rotate with the shaft 22 when the unit is workin or remain stationary whenthe unit is id e. The shaft' 27 is long enough to drive the cone in the last unit and is supported at suitable intervals in bearings 29 secured to the longitudinal girders 30.

The shafts 27 are preferably driven' b means of an electric or other suitable motor situated at one end of the tank, the motor being connected to the said shafts by means of driving chains and sprocket wheels.

The cones in each unit revolve in opposite directions to avoid breakin up the circular motion of the liquid caused by the rotation or' each cone. n I

In some cases, instead of clutching the cones to the shafts 22, the clutches may bei made to clutch the pinions 26 to the shafts 27 when the units are working and release the said pinions when the units are idle.

The action of the apparatus is as follows y Assuming the tank to bel empty,`the inlet valves are o ened and the sewage or other foul liquid ows lfrom the inlet channel 7 into the various units and fills the tank: when the tank-is full the motor is set in motion and the cones 17 rotated todraw the sludge and liquid yfrom the bottom fof the phere an tank and discharge it with a wave and spray action over the' top of the hoppers whereby the slud liquid is exposed to the atmosgdy aerated before falling back into the tank. l

When the cones have been working a short time the contents of each unit are in swirls -the sewage or other liquid becomes purified and loses its density the purified liquid gradually rises in the areas 6 and runs over the sills 12 into the eiiluent channel 13.

Owing to the slope of the bottoms of the units and the roundeclcorners or angles of the same they are self-cleansing and' the sludge gravitates to the'bottom of the circuating pipes 14. Should there be a surplus of sludge in any unit over and above the amount required for purification purposes, or when it is desired to put a unit out of action, the inlet valve 8 is closed and the cones' 17 run until the liquid is purified, thgJ` surplus sludge, or the whole of the ssludge, is then drawn off by opening the sludge valves 10, 10, the head of liquidin the unit forcing the slud e through the tank then forces sludge from one unit to the other unit'and thus avoids the necessity for pumping sludge from one unit to another or from one tank to another.

Our apparatusis particularly applicable to situations in which the flow of sewage is subject to great fluctuations, as during the period of minimum flow as man umts as are not required to deal with the ow can be cut out and be put into action again when the How increases.

We claim 1. A rectangular sewage tank havin a slo ing bottom devoid of sharp ang es, ba es suitably located in the corners of the tank the centre of the tank forming an area in which sewage Ais circulated and the corners of thetank forming settling areas in combination with means for filhng an emptying the tank and means for raising sludge from the bottom of the tank and eriposing the same to the atmosphere with a wave and spray action for aerating before fal2l1n]g back into the tank, as specified. and other foul-liquids'the combination of a rectangular tank subdivided by means of cross walls into a number of compartments having slo ing bottoms devoid 'of Asharp angles, ba es suitably located in the corners of each compartment to enable the s ace be tween the balles and the walls of t e tank to form settlin areas, and inlet channel loi cated abovesai tank and provided with inlet n an apparatus .for aerating sewage' emptying the tank anl y or raising sludge from the bottom et the tank and exposing the same to the atfk mosphere with a Wave' and spray action eore falling back into the tank, as speci- 3., A rectangular sewage tank divided by means of cross Walls into a number of eompartments each compartment being provided With a slopin bottom devoid of sharp angles,baes suitably located in the corners of each compartment above the sloping bottom i to enable the space between the bailles and thelwalls of the tank to form setting areas andmeans for raising sludge from the bottomv of each compartment and exposing the same to the atmosphere with a -wave and spray action for aeration, as specified.

d. A rectangular sewagel tank divided by means of cross Walls into a number of compartments having sloing bottoms devoid of sharp angles and ba es suitably located in the corners of each compartment above the sloping bottom, the centre of each compartment forming an area in which sludge is raisedirom the bottom of the tank and exposed to the atmosphere With a wave and spray-action for aeration before falling back into the tank, the corners vof the compart= ments forming settling areas, as described.

i RICHARD AMES. i Mnfrrrmvv WiLLrAM MiLLs. JOSHUA BcLroN. 

